


Uptight

by theoldwillweep



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, F/M, M/M, Post-Strike, anyways this is a hot take on davey’s character development and how it affects his clothing choices, i don’t have the slightest idea of how to write fanfiction, not really a jatherine fic, not really!!! but gayvey gaycobs doesn’t know that, one-sided javid????, the summary is vague because i’m am dumb and don’t know how to think, there might be other assorted newsies too but i uhh haven’t written this fic yet, this isn’t super happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoldwillweep/pseuds/theoldwillweep
Summary: Immediately following the events of the strike, it seems that everyone has received their happy ending, except for a one David Jacobs.





	Uptight

         “Guys!” Les shouted, and every head in Newsies Sqaure turned in the direction that the young boy was pointing in.

         Davey could barely hear the other boys’ shouts and hollers over the deafening sound of his thoughts, or lack thereof. He couldn’t process what he was seeing in front of him. Although he knew it was coming, he found himself silently praying to himself multiple times throughout the strike that he was simply reading the signs wrong.

         However, once the deafening silence in his head ceased, he could tell that this was never the case.

         His newfound best friend, Jack Kelly, was kissing the “star reporter”, Katherine Plumber.

         Or, as he and the rest of the boys had recently discovered, Katherine Pulitzer.

         The world seemed to stop for a moment, while the events playing out before him simultaneously seemed to be moving too quickly for him to keep up. He blinked, and it was over. Davey felt like he was going to be sick, despite the fact that the two sets of lips had already separated.

  
         Without really thinking, Davey managed to say “Well, Jack, are you in or you out?”

         Within seconds, Jack was beside him, paying for that day’s papers. The joyous shouts of the other boys from before returned, and they had only gotten more intense and passionate.

         That simple action was the only answer that the newsies needed to know that Jack would stay in New York, where he belonged.

         Sure, Davey had gotten his answer, but there was still a sinking feeling in his chest; he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d somehow lost Jack despite the boy being right in front of him.

* * *

  
         Davey walked home in silence, while Les excitedly gabbed about something that didn’t quite reach his ears.

         Davey’s thoughts were going a mile a minute, and he didn’t know how to make them stop.

         Normally Jack would walk the two of them home after a day’s worth of work, easily keeping them both engaged in conversation, but he was nowhere in sight as the two brothers left Newsies Square.

         Davey was confused.

         He suspected this, as it would only be fair to assume that he’d be walking Katherine home rather than him, but what he didn’t understand was why it hurt so much.

         He had an inkling of an idea as to why, but when such thoughts entered his head, as they so often did, he pushed them away.

         As Davey and Les approached their tenement, Les quickly recited information that a party to celebrate their victory was being held at Jacobi’s that night. He begged to attend, and Davey acquiesced with a small smile.

* * *

  
         At Jacobi’s that night, everyone chatted joyously as Jack slung his arm around Katherine’s shoulders. Davey couldn’t tear his eyes away from the two of them from his place at the corner of the room.

         Watching them, Davey had almost regretted agreeing to bring Les to the party.

         These thoughts didn’t linger as he heard a soft “Hey, Dave,” spoken in an easy tone.

         Jack’s voice startled him from his abstraction, and his head snapped in the direction it came from.

         “Oh, hey,” he replied in a small voice.

         “You’s been awfully quiet over here, you okay?” Jack asked sincerely.

         Davey panicked as his brain didn’t formulate a proper response, so he decided on fleeing as quickly as he possibly could without rousing suspicion.

         “I’m fine, but I was thinking of grabbing Les and heading home for the night.”

         “Oh, ya want I should walk ya home?” he offered, but Davey had already grabbed a protesting Les by his shoulders, dragging him towards the door.

         “Really, we’re fine; I’ll see you in the morning, Jack,” he said hurriedly.

         “See ya!” Jack called out, confused, but Davey was already gone.

* * *

  
         As the weeks progressed, Davey, as well as the other newsies, began to see less of Jack.

         Mornings and afternoons were business as usual, but when the day was over, Jack was nowhere to be found.

         This didn’t concern anyone much, knowing that he was off with Katherine, which the other boys playfully teased him for.

         Weeks turned into months, and Davey’s father went back to work, which meant that both Davey and Les had to go back to school. Jack seemed upset by this, but didn’t protest much further aside from making him promise to sell on weekends.

         Not being able to sell papes as much as he used to didn’t bother Davey much, as he loved going to school, but Davey barely got to see Jack as it was. With him starting school again, he would only be seeing Jack two days out of the week, and there wouldn’t be much time to talk other than the low conversations they shared in between hawking headlines.

* * *

  
         David began to change slowly, and this much was obvious to the other boys.

         However, none of them had the guts to ask him about it.

         It started with the waistcoat, now being buttoned up at all times.

         He seemed almost uncomfortable around everyone, not having as much passion while hawking.

         Next were the sleeves, no longer rolled up to his elbow. Instead, they gripped his wrists like a vice.

         David graduated from uncomfortable to silent, no longer engaging in conversation with the other newsies, instead opting to take Les and head home as soon as all of their papers were sold.

         Finally, David’s tie made a return, always having a place around his neck.

         He was now tense constantly, as he was before the strike.

         “Gee, Davey, you’s been real uptight lately; been wakin’ up on the wrong side of the bed?” Race joked one morning in an attempt to break the tension.

         A few of the other boys laughed, hoping to help.

         Instead, David gave them an unidentifiable look, turned on his heel, and walked away.

         The only one who didn’t notice these changes was Jack, who had stopped selling on the weekends, opting to spend his time with Katherine instead.

         Eventually, David stopped showing up at the circulation gate on Saturday and Sunday mornings as well.

         Les still made appearances, but only when Sarah had the time to drop him off, making the newsies promise to take good care of him.

         It wasn’t until another month later that Jack had finally noticed the absence of his friend.

* * *

  
         As David lay awake at night, he was startled by incessant tapping on his window.

         Dismissing it almost immediately, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

         However, the tapping didn’t stop, and he rose with a huff, finally deciding to investigate. As soon as he faced the window, his heart almost leapt out of his chest.

         It was Jack.

         He rushed over to the window and threw it open.

         “What are you doing here?!” David demanded in a hushed voice, careful not to wake Sarah and Les who were sleeping a mere few feet away from him.

         “We gotta talk, Dave,” he replied, matching his tone.

         David paused for a moment, eyes wide, before carefully pushing Jack aside and stepping out onto the fire escape beside him.

         He felt ridiculous standing outside in his pajamas, but being by Jack’s side on the fire escape brought him a comforting sense of familiarity and security, so he decided not to protest.

         There was a tense silence between them, neither of them truly knowing what they wanted to say.

         “So,” Jack began, “I hasn’t been bein’ the bestest of friends.”

         David let out a snort at that; now that he really thought about it, this was the first time that he’d seen Jack in at least a month.

         “Care to elaborate?” he asked, and Jack let out a groan.

         “Do I really gotta?”, and let out another as David gave a small nod of his head.

         “I’s real sorry for not comin’ by to see ya much, but I’s been illustratin’ for the World, Katherine broke up with me, Medda’s been askin’ for more backdrops-“

         Before he could finish, David let out a strangled “What?”

         “What?” Jack shot back, oblivious as to why David was confused.

         “You and Katherine are broken up?” he squeaked, and Jack let out a short laugh.

         “Ah, yeah, have been for a little while now. I was real upset about it, but life goes on. She was goin’ on about how she wanted to focus on her career, and-“

         Jack continued to speak, but David wasn’t listening anymore.

         His feelings were easy to ignore when Jack had a girlfriend, and they were even easier to ignore once he began avoiding Jack, but now Jack was here, and single, and David began to panic. He had tried to avoid thinking “sinful” thoughts about other boys, specifically Jack, but now he was being forced to confront those feelings and thoughts face-to-face.

         “But, anyways, enough about me; that ain’t why I came here tonight,” Jack said, distracting him from his panic-induced thoughts, resting a hand on his knee.

         “The otha’ boys have been tellin’ me that you’s been real quiet lately, and that ya stopped sellin’ entirely. What gives?” he interrogated.

         “I don’t know” David replied lamely.

         Jack gave him a pressing glance, and David let out a sigh.

         “It’s just been real lonely without you, Jackie,” he said quietly.

         “Whaddya mean?” he questioned. “Ya got Racer, Elmer, Specs, Albert-“

         “I know, Jackie, but they ain’t you,” David interrupted. “I’ve just really missed you.”

         “Oh,” replied Jack, softly.

         They seemed closer than they did a minute ago, but David continued to press on despite this.

         “I never got to see you; we were either selling, or you were off with Katherine, or-“

         “Why didn’t ya just tell me, Dave?” Jack interrupted this time.

         They were inches apart from each other now.

         “I don’t know,” he replied distractedly, staring at Jack’s lips.

         “You know you can tell me anything,” Jack said lowly, more as a fact than a suggestion, breath ghosting against David’s lips.

         This time, David couldn’t formulate any coherent thoughts, so he just nodded as they inched their lips impossibly closer.

         When the distance was finally closed, and their lips pressed together, David began to feel warm all over.

         Jack surged forward to add more pressure to the kiss, and their lips moved together for what seemed like an eternity.

         They broke apart, and no words were spoken. Foreheads pressed together, breathing against each other in sync, Davey finally felt like himself again.

         When Davey showed up at the circulation gate the next day with Jack and Les in tow, no one mentioned the absense of the tie around his neck.

**Author's Note:**

> i’ve had this account for two years and have never even once considered writing fanfiction, but i’m so incredibly starved for javid content and i can’t get this idea out of my head whenever i watch newsies!!! so, i’ve never written any fanfiction before. so, please forgive my inexperience, i hope this brought you at least a little joy for like 2 seconds lmao. also! i’m very sorry about the format, i’m doing this from my phone.
> 
> i wrote the entirety of the tags and the notes before i even wrote the fic and i was just wanna say sorry y’all, this ain’t what i was plannin’ on, i really didn’t plan this at all lol


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